μύστης

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From μυέω (muéō, “I initiate”), from μῡ́ω (mū́ō, “I shut”). The sense development was probably "to shut" > "(one who) shuts one's eyes" > "one who is or is to be initiated (in the Eleusinian mysteries)".

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mýs.tɛːs/ → /ˈmys.tis/ → /ˈmis.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mýs.tɛːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈmys.te̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmys.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmys.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmis.tis/

Noun

μῠ́στης • (mústēs) m (genitive μῠ́στου); first declension

1. one who has been initiated; an initiate

Inflection

First declension of ὁ μῠ́στης; τοῦ μῠ́στου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ μῠ́στης ho mústēs	τὼ μῠ́στᾱ tṑ mústā	οἱ μῠ́σται hoi mústai
Genitive	τοῦ μῠ́στου toû mústou	τοῖν μῠ́σταιν toîn mústain	τῶν μῠστῶν tôn mustôn
Dative	τῷ μῠ́στῃ tôi mústēi	τοῖν μῠ́σταιν toîn mústain	τοῖς μῠ́σταις toîs mústais
Accusative	τὸν μῠ́στην tòn mústēn	τὼ μῠ́στᾱ tṑ mústā	τοὺς μῠ́στᾱς toùs mústās
Vocative	μῠ́στᾰ músta	μῠ́στᾱ mústā	μῠ́σται mústai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• μῠστήρῐον (mustḗrion)
• μῠστῐκός (mustikós)
• μύστις (mústis)
• σῠμμῠ́στης (summústēs)

 

Descendants

• Latin: mystēs, mysta

Further reading

• “μύστης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μύστης”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μύστης in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • initiated idem, page 441.
  • mystery idem, page 549.
• “mystery”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.